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Agence France-Presse

After making a fortune with his early antivirus software, then caught up in murder and drugs cases in Belize, US millionaire John McAfee has added a new chapter to his tumultuous life story.
From a yacht in Havana harbour, he says he is running for the US presidency. This will not, he deadpans, be “an ordinary campaign”.

“I am wanted as a criminal by the government for which I am running for president,” McAfee says as he sits on his white yacht surrounded by an entourage of seven campaign aides and two enormous dogs.
He wears shorts, a tropical shirt, wraparound sunglasses and sports a greying goatee.
McAfee’s immediate goal is to win the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, which supports free trade and a sharply reduced federal government.
He tried but failed in 2016, beaten for the party’s nomination by Gary Johnson, who went on to win just over three per cent of the vote in the election.

But McAfee has an unusual admission for a presidential candidate: “I don’t want to be president, I really do not, nor could I be,” he says, puffing on a cigar.
“Really, look at me,” says McAfee, whose deep tan and relaxed attitude hardly give him the look of a candidate. “I cannot be president. However, I do have a large following and I will influence this next election.”
Since making a fortune with his antivirus software in the 1980s, the 73-year-old has become a self-styled cryptocurrency guru, claiming to make US$2,000 a day. He has nearly 1 million followers on Twitter.
‘It’s war’ ... cryptocurrency advocate warns of looming conflict
His yacht, docked at the Marina Hemingway in Havana, is called “The Great Mystery” – appropriately for this enigmatic man.
McAfee began his career as a Nasa engineer before working for several software companies, where he learned of the existence of a computer virus – and began figuring out how to destroy it.
Thus McAfee Associates was born in 1987, quickly becoming a giant in the antivirus industry. He sold the company to Intel in 2010 and is now worth an estimated US$100 million.
But his success story – worthy of a Steve Jobs or a Bill Gates – took an unexpected turn: moving to Belize in Central America and living a sometimes chaotic life, he suddenly became tabloid grist when his neighbour was mysteriously murdered in 2012, a crime that has not been solved.

When police found him living with a 17-year-old girl and discovered a large arsenal of weapons in his home, McAfee disappeared on a month-long flight that drew breathless media coverage.
The dead neighbour’s family later filed a wrongful death suit against McAfee; last year a court in Florida found against him, ordering him to pay the family more than US$25 million.
Ever the provocateur, in 2013 the millionaire posted a rambling video in which he explained how to uninstall McAfee software, his nose covered in white powder as seven scantily clad women massage his shirtless chest and shoulders.
The film, which ends on an image of him firing a pistol at a computer screen, was watched more than 9 million times.
In 2015, McAfee was arrested in the United States for driving under the influence. He again disappeared from view until January 2019, when he fled the country.

“I went first to the Bahamas because I was charged with income tax evasion,” he said, adding that when the FBI went there looking for him he fled to Cuba. “I have not paid taxes for eight years. I will not pay taxes again – it is unconstitutional and illegal.”
This capitalist king’s choice to find refuge in a Communist country might seem surprising.
Yet McAfee insists he is probably Cuba’s “best friend”.
“I know nothing about communism,” he says. “I do know we should not be interfering with Cuba, we should not be blockading this country,” as the US has done since 1962.
McAfee has offered to help Cuba launch a cryptocurrency of its own. The government said earlier it was studying how the virtual money might be used to get around US economic sanctions. McAfee said that would be “trivial”.
Who owns the name McAfee? I do, according to John McAfee
It is not always easy to determine the veracity of everything McAfee says. US tax authorities, asked about his possible legal jeopardy, would not confirm whether he faces any charges.
No extradition request has been filed with Cuban authorities.
The mere fact of having sailed his yacht to Cuba, however, violates new US regulations that ban American citizens from travelling to the island on cruise ships or private boats.
Still, amid continuing tense relations between Havana and Washington, the millionaire says he plans to stay there until the US elections in November 2020.
“Cuba has never extradited an American citizen,” he notes, “and Cuba is not exactly a friend of the US government.”
Yet the two countries do cooperate on police and legal matters. Last November, the Cuban authorities turned over to their US counterparts an American wanted by Interpol for murdering his girlfriend.


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Fugitive millionaire antivirus guru John McAfee plans US presidential run … from yacht in Cuba

US millionaire John McAfee on his yacht at Marina Hemingway in Havana in June. Photo: AFP

US anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee (R) answers questions to journalistas next to his Guatemalan lawyer Telesforo Guerra (L), in front of the Supreme Court in Guatemala City on December 04, 2012. McAfee, wanted for questioning over the murder of his neighbor last month in Belize, is seeking political asylum in Guatemala. AFP PHOTO / Johan ORDONEZ [15DECEMBER2013 POST MAGAZINE]

US millionaire John McAfee gestures during an interview with AFP on his yacht anchored at the Marina Hemingway in Havana, on June 26, 2019. - After making his fortune with antivirus software, McAfee fled from Belize after a murder case. (Photo by Adalberto ROQUE / AFP)

FILE - In this May 18, 2016 file photo, Libertarian presidential candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson speaks with legislators at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. The day after political heavyweight Mitt Romney name-dropped him on Twitter, the former New Mexico governor seemed to reveal a hole in his foreign-affairs knowledge when he was befuddled by an otherwise routine question about the Syrian city of Aleppo. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

John McAfee, co-founder of McAfee Crypto Team and CEO of Luxcore and founder of McAfee Antivirus, leaves his yacht at the Marina Hemingway in Havana, Cuba, July 4, 2019. Picture taken July 4, 2019. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

John McAfee at Marina Hemingway in Havana on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

McAfee antivirus software founder on the run after murder on Belize

Neighbours said the antivirus-software pioneer was stand-offish and unfriendly. Photos: SCMP Pictures

John McAfee in his early years.

John McAfee had been living in a beachfront compound in Belize.

McAfee for president?  Antivirus software pioneer boasts skills to halt America’s ‘collapse’ from poor cyber security 

John McAfee in New York: ‘I am unprepared for everything. So I’m not going to waste your time.’ Photo: The Guardian

The home of anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee is seen in San Pedro November 14, 2012. Belize's prime minister on Wednesday urged McAfee to help the country's police with a murder inquiry, calling McAfee "bonkers" for recent media statements. Belizean police want to question McAfee, 67, about the murder of his neighbor and fellow U.S. citizen, Gregory Viant Faull, 52, with whom McAfee had quarreled. Police have been unable to track down McAfee since finding Faull dead on Sunday in his house on Ambergris Caye, an island off the coast. REUTERS/Henry Romero (BELIZE - Tags: CRIME LAW)

Undated photograph showing US citizen Gregory Viant Faull(52) who was murdered in Ambergris Caye, Belize between the night of November 10th and Sunday November 11th. Police raided John McAfee mansion on Ambergris Caye, an island off the northeastern coast of Belize, late Sunday to question him about the murder. McAfee(67) is a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur, who made millions when he sold his stake in his anti-virus software company in the early 1990s. The McAfee company is now a subsidiary of Intel Corp. AFP PHOTO/San Pedro Sun/HO [15DECEMBER2013 POST MAGAZINE]

McAfee: hackers target Pyeongchang Olympics with suspect emails from Singapore IP address

The security firm McAfee said several organisations associated with the Olympics had received the malicious email with the primary target being groups affiliated with ice hockey

Hackers have already begun targeting the Pyeongchang Olympic Games with malware-infected emails which may be aimed at stealing passwords or financial information, researchers said. McAfee said the emails came from an address in Singapore, and instructed the readers to open a text document in Korean.

Hackers have already begun targeting the Pyeongchang Olympic Games with malware-infected emails which may be aimed at stealing passwords or financial information, researchers said. Photo: EPA

Wanted McAfee taunts police with blog posts

Anti-virus pioneer John McAfee says he is keeping an eye on the police hunt. Photo: AP

Gregory Viant Faull, who was murdered in Ambergris Caye, Belize earlier this month. Photo: AFP

Guatemala deports software pioneer McAfee to US

John McAfee arrives at the airport in Guatemala City bound for Miami. Photo: AFP

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Wanted in the US for not paying tax, McAfee is aiming for the Libertarian Party nomination, but admits he doesn’t want the White House job


Wanted in the US for not paying tax, McAfee is aiming for the Libertarian Party nomination, but admits he doesn’t want the White House job.


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Fugitive millionaire antivirus guru John McAfee plans US presidential run … from yacht in Cuba

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Wanted in the US for not paying tax, McAfee is aiming for the Libertarian Party nomination, but admits he doesn’t want the White House job

Wanted in the US for not paying tax, McAfee is aiming for the Libertarian Party nomination, but admits he doesn’t want the White House job